


Parallel and Perpendicular

by GraySonOfGotham



Series: Batfamily Demon AU [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Grayson (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universes, M/M, Returning Home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-03-29 17:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13932123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraySonOfGotham/pseuds/GraySonOfGotham
Summary: Dick has spent the past four years searching for Damian. He has gone to many, many, many worlds, and has collected many stories over the years.And since they have twenty four hours and an unlimited supply of coffee (and tea, and beer), they all settle in.(An extended epilogue of sorts)*Third installment after A Long Fall From Grace, discontinued, but concluded





	1. NOTE

**Author's Note:**

> ITALICS - interruption to story, set in the Damian's penthouse with Dick telling of his adventures  
> UNDERLINED - Canon universe characters (from epilogue of ALFFG)  
> BOLD - Demon AU characters

Hello, everybody!

I have some bad news. I have been really busy recently, but I have been trying to write as much as I can. And unfortunately, during this hectic time, I may have lost interest in writing this specific story. I realized that there isn't exactly much of a plot line and the basic structure of each chapter is pretty much the same. So it's a bit repetitive and I don't think it's going to very interesting. 

So instead, I shall give you what you are all reading this story for: Damian's return home. 

That was meant to be the epilogue of this story, but I highly doubt anyone would read through all of basically the same thing fifteen times before coming to the part they're waiting for. I will keep the first two stories, but I will skip the next thirteen. Basically, Dick tells stories about his adventures and misadventures and has some fun.

Either tomorrow or the next day, I will have the last part up.

Thank you for being so understanding!

<3 Gray


	2. Take Me to the Circus

The first world was home.

Well, not _exactly_ home, but it felt like home. It was the place my story started. The circus.

Bright lights, cheerful funhouse music, the scents of popcorn and candy filling the night air. Laughter and applaud of people floated around, creating a sense of happiness and security that I could never achieve anywhere else. It felt grounding. I felt completely at home walking down between the colorful tents.

But I had a task.

I needed to find Damian and I had already wasted time taking in the sights. Sighing, I thought about where to start.

According to Tim, the teleportation device would drop me off at the place that was most similar to the Gotham I’m from. And apparently, in this world, it was a circus.

Fortunately, I knew how to navigate a circus quite well. Tim had told me to try to make a little of an impression as I could, talking only to those I needed to.

So I headed straight towards the trailers. There was a show happening at the moment, so many of the performers would be occupied, leaving the trailers empty.

I slipped into the nearest one, not bothering to read the name on the front. The trailer was very messy. There were clothes on the ground, dishes in the sink, bed unmade. I carefully picked my way through the disarray, stopping to look at a few pictures that sat on the dresser.

It was this world’s Tim’s trailer. I was a little surprised, but not much. My Tim had warned that I might run into people I knew from my world, which would cause a lot of confusion, so I should avoid revealing myself.

But studying the pictures, I recognized a few more people. There was Bruce, Steph, and me in the pictures as well. They all liked slightly different. Small things. Tim’s hair was cut a little shorter, Bruce’s stance more relaxed, Steph looked a little shorter and younger, and I was slimmer.

But no sign of Damian, so I slipped out, deciding to check a couple more trailers. I was surprised that most of the names on the trailers were ones that I recognized. Kori, Wally, Selina, the list went on. Finally, I came across a more promising one.

Knocking first, and confirming that no one was inside, I quickly slipped in. Bruce’s trailer was much cleaner than Tim’s, and it was organized but far from immaculate. A couple books lay on the counter, a pillow was hanging off the side of the bed, and the tap was dripping. I turned the tap off, and looked around. There was a clipboard and a pen on the counter as well, under the books.

I moved the books over and looked at the list. It was a schedule. I read through it quickly, going through all the acts. Finally, the name I was hoping to find cropped up.

Damian, the lion tamer. And according to the schedule, he had just finished his act.

I smiled to myself. Time to pay him a visit.

I found Damian in talking gently to his lion, who was sitting in the cage, eating. He patted the lion’s mane, and I cleared my throat when I walked in.

Damian turned. One look and I knew it wasn’t the Damian I was looking for. This Damian was older, maybe twenty-three.

“Dick,” Damian said, looking surprised. “Aren’t you supposed to be on right now?”

I laughed sheepishly. “Um, yeah. The schedule was… um, changed. Last minute.”

Damian’s eyebrows furrowed. “You okay? You look a little off.” Damian looked me up and down with a scrutinizing gaze. “You look… different.”

Just then, a head popped in. “Hey, Lil D! We’re going to grab dinner after Dickie finishes up. You wanna come?” It was Barbara. Her eyes flash to me, then to Damian then back at me. “Hey… I just said ‘good luck’ to you five minutes ago. Your performance isn’t finished yet… What are you doing here?”

Both Damian and Barbara were looking at me now. I sighed heavily. “See, regarding that. I’m not… I’m not Dick. Well, I am, but I’m not from your world per se.”

Barbara snorted. “So what, you’re from outer space?”

I shook my head. “A different universe, actually.”

“And you’re here because?” Damian asked slowly, arching an eyebrow.

“I’m looking for someone,” I admitted. “But… they’re not here.”

I must have looked rather broken up about it, which I was, but Barbara immediately softened. “Oh, I’m sorry. Hey, would you like to come to dinner with us anyways? I’m sure it’ll cheer you up.”

Damian looked like he was going to protest, but a glare from Barbara shut him up.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea-”

“Oh, shush, you. It’s a great idea. Come on, you should come see the show! You, well, Dick is performing right now.”

Barbara grabbed me, tugging me out of the tent by my black sweater. Damian narrowed his eyes at me for a moment but followed.

“So who were you looking for?” Babs asked as we walked towards the big striped tent.

“My younger brother. He went missing eight months back. We think he got sucked into a different universe, so.”

“And you plan on searching through all the universes?” Damian asked with a snort.

I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “It seems outrageous, I know, but… he’s my little brother. I can’t just- I feel responsible, somewhat.”

“And how do you know he’s not here?” Babs asked, smiling at a couple other performers.

“I mean, unless there’s another Damian here, I can safely say he’s not in this universe.”

“Damian?” Damian asked. “Like me. Your brother is named Damian?”

“My brother _is_ you. In another universe, yeah. Well, adopted brother, I guess. Me, being the adopted one. You’re your father’s son through and through,” I said with a fond smile. “Then you went missing.”

“How do you know he didn’t get kidnapped or something?” Damian asked. His voice, though cold and bored, betrayed hints of interest.

I laughed loudly. “My Dami wouldn’t let a couple kidnappers stop him. No, he’s a fighter. Literally. He’s dropped off the map completely. We even confronted his mother, but she’s… she hadn’t seen him either, so that’s when we knew that something was wrong.”

We had reached the tent, and Barbara pulled aside the side flap, and I slipped inside. From where I was standing in the shadows, I can see the large ring for the performers. And the spotlight was on a single person. Me, well other Dick.

There was a large trapeze set, and Dick was swinging from bar to bar with grace and ease. A lump grew in my throat.

Barbara seemed to notice my silence. “Amazing, isn’t he? Star of our show. No one is as good as Dick, nor as flexible. Except maybe Selina. She’s our contortionist, but she’s no acrobat.”

I watched Dick leap from bar to bar with a slight sense of nostalgia. “There might be a few things I could teach him,” I muttered.

Barbara’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t seem the acrobatic type.”

I smiled. “No, probably not. But I’ve learned some things the hard way over the years. For example, see that move right there?” I pointed to a complicated trick Dick pulled, landing it perfectly. “If the platform had been any lower or higher, he would not be able to correct that should the need crop up. It would have been really painful.”

“Huh. You’ll have to tell him that,” Babs said, smiling up at me.

I beamed. “So what is your job on the circus?” I asked.

“Oh, I just make sure everything gets done on time, everyone’s in the right place, all problems get fixed as soon as possible, you know. The technical things.”

“The boring jobs,” Damian muttered.

Soon, Dick’s performance ended, and the crowd broke out in applause, a standing ovation. Dick bowed before flipping off the platform, landing perfectly on the ground. He walked out waving and grinning.

Barbara grabbed me. “C’mon, let’s go meet him!”

“Uh, Babs, that’s not-”

But she was already waving. “Dickie!”

Dick strode over, a water bottle in hand. “Hey, Babs, Damian, and-” he stopped.

“Hey,” I said, with a little grin. “Saw your performance. Pretty good, if I may say so myself.”

“You’re- You’re-” Dick sputtered.

“You, I know. Trust me, you don’t want to think about it too hard,” I assured.

“Hey, how did you even get here?” Damian asked. “Is inter-dimensional travel even a thing?”

“Yeah. It’s a bit new. Has a few flaws, but Tim’s working on it. In the meantime, I’m stuck here for twenty-four hours.”

Dick opened his mouth and closed it a few times. Then he mouthed, “Tim?” to Barbara.

She just patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I don’t understand it completely. But I’m sure he’s harmless. I mean, he’s you. And you have the biggest heart out of all of us.”

Dick looked at me again, obviously not able to wrap his head around it.

Then Damian cut in. “Hey, I’m hungry. I thought we were going to get dinner after Grayson finished?”

Barbara suddenly seemed to remember her original plans. “Right! I’ll go call the others and Dick, go get changed, you look ridiculous.”

“Hey,” Dick and I said at the same time.

Babs paused. “Okay, that? Don’t ever do that again. It’s creepy.” She turned and ran off.

Damian had also wandered off to talk to someone nearby, and left me alone with my counterpart.

“Um, so I’m going to get changed. You wanna…?” He gestured to a small tent next to larger one.

“It’s not anything I haven’t seen before, I guess.”

Dick went red. “I wasn’t inviting you to watch me change, perv. I just didn’t want you standing out here looking like an idiot.”

“Ouch.”

Dick shook his head. “Just, come with me.”

We walked into the smaller tent, and Dick shuffled behind a screen, pulling off his costume as he went.

“So what do you think of the circus so far?” Dick asked. “Different from your world?”

I laughed. “You can’t even begin to imagine. But it’s home, so I can’t really complain.”

“So I’m assuming you’re here on some sort of mission? Are you a secret spy or something?” Dick asked. The sound of a zipper being pulled up followed.

“Of sorts. But I’m here on a personal mission. Sadly, this isn’t the right world. But I do find myself quite fond of your world,” I admitted. “It’s nice.”

Dick snorted, “I’m sure it is. But growing up on the circus and probably staying for the rest of your life? It gets boring fast.” He stepped out from behind the screen. “I’ve wanted nothing more than to get out of this life and find something for myself.” He shook his hair out. “Be free, you know?”

I blinked at him. “You _don’t_ like the circus?”

Dick sighed. “I do. It’s home, like you said. But I think I’ve outgrown it. It’s mundane and boring now. Each town or city is the same. Nothing _exciting_ happens.”

My mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding? When I was younger, I would’ve given nearly anything to be in your shoes.”

Dick wrinkled his nose. “Seriously? You _wanted_ to be here? What kind of childhood dream is that?”

I gave him a wistful smile as we walked out of the tent. “I grew up on the circus too. Lost my parents here. And then I was adopted into a family and a home that was drastically different. And for the longest time, I just wanted my old life back.”

“I’m sorry, about your parents. If they were anything like mine, they were the best,” Dick said.

“Yeah. They were great. What happened to your parents?” I asked as we approached the group by the larger tent.

“Oh, nothing. Mum and Dad are living on the west coast now. They got out of the circus life, but I was young and foolish and I decided to stay,” Dick said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Do any of them know? That you don’t want to be here anymore?” I asked, nodding at the group of people. They were all familiar faces.

Dick shrugged. “A couple maybe. I’ve never really talked about it. After all, I’m the star of the show. They need me.”

“Dick!” Barbara’s voice drew us out of our conversation.

“Yes?” We both answered.

We stood in front of the group of six, their gazes switching between us.

“It’s so weird,” Stephanie said. “It’s like Dick suddenly has an older, hotter twin.”

Dick glared at her, but it was a fond glare.

I laughed. “I’m flattered. At least I don’t need to introduce myself, I hope?” It was kind of weird that they all seemed to easily accept that I was Dick’s duplicate and did not mean them any harm. Guess it’s just the circus magic.

Cassandra stepped up to me. I noticed that her hair reached down to her lower back, and her normally small hands seemed even smaller. She tapped me on the chest. “You will find him,” she said. “Don’t stop looking.”

Surprised, I didn’t reply. Cass backed up. I looked at Barbara for an explanation.

She shrugged. “Cass is rather intuitive. So if Cass thinks you’re harmless, you must be harmless.” She looped her arm through mine. “C’mon, guys. We need to be back before midnight at least. Otherwise, Bruce will tear us a new one.”

~

They warmed up to me rather quickly. Throughout dinner, I kept comparing them to their counterparts in my world. Steph and Babs were most interested in my world, often asking for stories, which I was more than willing to give, especially if they were embarrassing. Damian was more interested in my personal past.

Tim kept asking about the technicalities of the teleportation device, and I gave him what I knew, but Tim hadn’t bothered explaining everything to me beforehand, so I didn’t actually know much.

Dick and Jason talked quietly to each other, rarely joining the conversation. I was a little worried because I usually was rather talkative and a tad bit annoying, I’ll admit, so it wasn’t really like _me_ to be quiet.

After dinner, we walked around the streets of Gotham. This Gotham was much more clean and brighter. The girls went window shopping, and the rest of us lagged behind them, talking amongst ourselves.

I cornered Dick. “Hey, are you okay?” I asked. “You seemed rather quiet at dinner.”

“You don’t know me. Maybe I’m always quiet.”

“Mm… I don’t think so.”

Dick sighed. “I was thinking it over. I think I’m going to leave, Dick. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

I was quiet for a moment. “Ultimately, it’s your decision, but I want to ask you some things.”

“Okay.”

“They’re your family, aren’t they?” I asked, nodding at the group in front of us. Steph and Babs were pointing excitedly at a glittery handbag while Cass shook her head quietly, disagreeing. She pointed to the plain, brown leather one instead.

Jason, Tim and Damian were arguing loudly over some small thing, with both Jason and Damian gesturing wildly.

“Yeah, they are,” Dick said, his voice filled with emotion.

“Then they will understand your choice, whatever you chose. I can’t speak for them, but they will support you. When I was a teenager, I made a decision to separate from my family as well, and to go my own way. I tried my best to forge my own path, but in the end, I ended right back where I started. I was upset about it at first, but it ended up fine in the end. I absolutely love what I do.”

Dick was silent.

“I mean it, Dick. If you leave and one day decide to come back, it’s okay. Your family will always have a place for you,” I assured. I was getting good at this talk. I’ve given it to Jason, to Tim, to Damian, and now myself. It all comes full circle.

“You really think so?” Dick asked quietly.

I smiled. “I know.” Then I had an idea. “Hey, guys,” I called. The others turned around. “Dick and I have a surprise for you.”

Dick looked at me in alarm. “Wait-”

“Trust me,” I said with a wink. I pulled him into a nearby alleyway, which was surprisingly not dirty and disgusting. I pulled off my black sweatshirt and threw it to Damian, who caught it with a scowl. Then, I flipped up onto the fire escape on the side of the building. Halfway up, I looked down at Dick. “Coming?”

Dick looked at me like I was crazy. “I’m a circus acrobat! Not suicidal!” He exclaimed.

I laughed. “It’s fine. Really. It comes naturally once you get over the initial fear. Sorry, but the rest of you will have to climb the ladder the hard way.” They didn’t move. “Well, c’mon already! We haven’t got all night. Don’t you have curfew?”

I flipped up the rest of the way. A few moments later, I heard the clanking of the fire escape, and Dick popped up on the roof. He looked terrified.

“I could’ve died,” he said. “You’re absolutely insane.”

I shrugged. “I told you, I love what I do.”

We waited until the other six clambered up. I turned to them. “Okay, see those series of ladders over there? You need to climb up all of them to the highest building around here.” They groaned. “Oh, get over it. A little physical exercise will do you some good.”

Then I turned to Dick. “Us? We’re going the easy way.”

I took a running start and leaped over the small gap between the buildings.

I heard Dick mutter, “Right, easy.”

He copied me, barely making it over.

“You need to relax,” I said. “I’ve seen you make farther jumps tonight during the performance. Trust your body to know what to do. Stop over thinking it.”

Dick nodded slowly. He took a couple deep breaths. Then he looked at me with a new determination. “Okay.”

I grinned. “Awesome. Do try to keep up.”

I performed a series of rather simple moves over a small water tower, and jumping straight across to the next building. I watched as Dick copied my movements flawlessly, landing with a breathless laugh.

“Okay, that was kind of cool,” he confessed.

We continued flipping over increasingly large gaps between the buildings, making a full circle around the tallest building in the area, where the others were looking down on us, cheering. Dick waved up at them once, nearly slipping. I laughed at him.

“Don’t get distracted now,” I warned, half serious. “There’s no net. And the higher we go, the more dangerous it is. Concentrate now.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dick said. His face was flushed from mild exertion and the cold night air. He was smiling hard though. “What’s next?”

I raised an eyebrow questioningly, but didn’t say anything. We were one building away from the others, but the leap was a bit far. I knew I could make it with no problem, but I was a little more worried about Dick. I ran forward, doing a couple handsprings before flying across the gap, landing perfectly in front of the others.

They clapped and cheered. I turned to watch Dick. He ran forward, did the same number of front handsprings, but at the jump, he did another flip. He wasn’t going to make it.

Halfway through the leap, he seemed to notice that too. I saw his eyes widen in panic, and he reached out to grab the edge of the building. I reached forward as well, grabbing his wrist at the last minute.

There was a moment of shocked silence. I pulled him up, the gravel of the building scraping my elbows. He sat there for a moment, catching his breath. Then he smiled. “Thanks.”

I frowned at him. “You got too cocky. I told you to concentrate.”

“I’m sorry, Dick. I was trying to up you, but I realize I shouldn’t have done that,” he said, sounding sincere. “But that was really cool. You do this every day?” he asked.

I sighed, cracking a small smile and pulling him up. “More or less.”

“You’re crazy,” he said. But then he took in the city around him. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking at the city as well. “This is why I do this every day.”

The others gathered around us, and the eight of us looked down at the city, and I almost felt like I was back home again.

Then I got an idea. “Hey, can we take a picture? I’ll be gone this time tomorrow, and I’ve got to say, I love this world.”

So we gathered around and I pulled out my phone. With Gotham as our backdrop, flushed smiles all around, the wind in our faces, it was perfect.

~

_“I have the picture here, actually,” Dick said, pulling out his phone. He scrolled through it for a moment. “Ah. See?” He turned the phone for the others to see. _

_“You never showed us that,” Tim said. “Did you take pictures at every world?”_

_ Dick  _ _smiled guiltily. “Mostly. Hey, I get attached, okay?”_

**_Jason, Dick,_ ** _and **Tim** were also quite interested. They looked at themselves, pointing out differences in awed voices. Damian rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but sneak a peek._

_The picture really was as Dick described it. He could practically see the happiness oozing out of there. _

_“Anyway,” Dick continued, tucking his phone away. “Later that night…”_

~

We had just made it back in time. Dick was in a considerably better mood. He offered to let me stay in his trailer, saying he’d go crash somewhere else for the night.

I was grateful for that because I was rather tired too. But I lay in the bunk for a long time, staring at the ceiling. Cass had said that I would find Damian. I was glad to have that reassurance, but how long? In the next world? World ten? World one hundred?

But she was right. I would keep searching. It was my fault Damian had been sucked into a different dimension in the first place. I had gotten him riled up and he stormed out, so I felt that it was my responsibility to find him.

I sighed and rolled over in the bed. One world at a time, I guess.

The next morning, Barbara was at the trailer door bright and early. She had brought over some of Jason’s clothes, seeing that Dick was quite a bit slimmer than I was.

I walked out into brought sunlight. “So what’s the plan today?” I asked with a yawn. “I’m going to be here until later tonight.”

Barbara just laughed. “You’ll see.” She pulled me to the breakfast bar where she shoved a bowl of oatmeal, some fruit and a small plate of scrambled eggs and bacon onto a plastic tray and gave it to me. She made herself a plate as well and pulled me over to a long wooden table.

I sat down across from Jason, who scowled at me. I looked at him uncertainly. “Oh, he and Damian are just not morning people.”

I blinked, surprised. “Really? The Jason in my world was definitely a morning person. Not a fun morning person, but he was up before me, that’s for sure.”

“But I’m assuming you would’ve slept until noon, if you could,” Dick said, plopping down beside me. “Don’t worry. I would, too, if I could.”

We ate breakfast, and I was introduced to several people, who also seemed okay with the fact that there were two Dicks.

Finally, as I was finishing my food, which was good, but not as good as Alfred’s cooking, Bruce walked up to the us. He nodded at me.

“Hello, Dick. Welcome to the circus. I hear you had quite the eventful night?”

I nearly choked. “I didn’t mean to-”

He broke out in a smile. “It’s fine. I just hope you didn’t wear any of my performers out because I made a little change to the schedule.” I blinked rapidly. Did Bruce just _smile_?

He put his clipboard down on the table. “So most of the things are the same, but I’ve switched up the order. Since our guest is leaving later today, I thought we could do a special. So we have the an acrobatic duo today. Is that okay?” Bruce looked at me for conformation.

I swallowed quickly. “Yeah. That’s- That’s fine with me. Dick?” Dick beamed and nodded.

Bruce nodded and picked his clipboard back up. “Alright. I expect you all to be on your best behavior now,” he warned. “No more late night building jumping.”

After he was out of earshot, I turned towards the group. “Alright, who told?”

Stephanie and Barbara giggled and looked away.

“Guys!” I complained. “It was supposed to be between us!”

Barbara laughed. “That was the best thing that’s happened in a while!” she said. “I had to tell Bruce. Besides, you made a better impression on him than you think.”

I smiled a little. “Hm, guess I did.” Looks like the habit of trying to make Bruce proud was still there.

After breakfast, everyone pitched in to help set up lights, move props, and practice. Dick and I went to an empty tent to work out a routine. No one interrupted us until lunch time.

During lunch, one of the cooks had baked a large cake, and everyone got a slice. It was chocolate, my favorite. Several people came around and said goodbye, and it honestly was a little sad. Everyone was starting to feel like family.

After lunch, the circus opened for the day. There were fewer visitors during the day, and there no performances until the sun sets.

Dick and I practiced some more, and before I knew it, it was show time.

I was presented with a costume especially made for me, last minute, at that. It made me choke up for a moment. It looked really similar to my Nightwing suit. The entire thing was black, and the only color on the entire thing were a bunch of bright blue curls that came together on my right shoulder. The other end ran down my left shoulder and my entire arm. I smiled when I tried it on.

“Hm, I’ve missed the finger stripes.”

I got dressed, ready to run the routine one last time before the performance. Dick met me in the empty tent, and his eyes widened. “Wow, Cass really outdid herself.”

Dick was dressed in something similar, but the curl was on his left shoulder and the finger stripes on the right.

“Wait, Cass made this?”

Dick nodded. “Yeah. She’s our costume designer. And they’re always so perfect. Again, she’s intuitive.”

I looked down at myself again. “It’s almost scary how much,” I said with a slight touch of awe.

“What do you mean?”

I shook my head, smiling softly. “It’s just… it reminds me of home. Of everything I love to do.”

“You mean running across buildings and jumping off dangerous heights?” Dick asked with a snort, touching his toes a couple times, warming up.

I smirked. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.” I copied him, and climbed up on the platform opposite him.

He took a deep breath. “I haven’t worked with a partner in a while, so I’m rather nervous,” he confided.

I smiled. “It’s okay. I’ve never officially done this in my life either. I mean, I do tricks for fun, to annoy my family, to show off, but never for a crowd.”

A smile flickered onto Dick’s face. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

He turned on the little speaker behind him and the music played into the empty tent. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and jumped.

We did the routine perfectly, exactly as the previous ten times. As soon as we were done, Barbara poked her head in. “Hey, guys. Your turn! Wow, Cass did a really good job! You guys look great.”

Dick thanked her and we entered the big tent, staying in the shadows as Bruce announced us. The plan was for Dick to go on as normal, letting the audience think it was a solo trapeze act. But I would be in the dark on the other side. Then, Dick would “mess up” and since there is no net, he would start falling, but at the last second, I was to catch him.

Dick came up with the idea, saying that it reminded him of the night before, how I’d saved him. He was really thankful for that. I just hoped that after I left, he would not develop some narcissistic complex seeing that he seemed to look up to me a lot now.

The tent went dark, and I got into position on the opposite platform from Dick silently. The music started and Dick leaped off his platform with a confident smile. He grabbed onto the trapeze bar, hoisting himself onto it with ease.

He did a few easy swings and a couple simple flips. Then, he flipped off of the bar backwards back onto his platform. The spotlight followed his every move. The crowd cheered and clapped.

The bar was still swinging, and Dick leapt towards it again. His hands missed, and he started pummeling towards twenty feet below toward the ground. There was no net below them. A collective gasp rose from the crowd and a couple screams too.

That was my cue. I jumped, and a second later, my hands closed around Dick’s wrists, and his own hands gripped mine. We swung back up, and I let go of his wrists. He flipped three times and I grabbed his ankles this time as we swung back, my own legs hanging onto the trapeze bar. The rush of air and the blinding light was exhilarating. I was smiling so hard. I could barely hear the music over the applaud and cheers.

When we swung back up again, Dick grabbed his own bar and we swung apart.

He turned on his bar, so that he was hanging the same way I was. One swing, two swings, three swings… And I let go of my bar, flipping through the air like I loved to do. Dick caught me like I had caught him before, and he flipped me onto his platform before leaping onto it after me.

I was breathing hard now, more from the elation than exertion.

We bowed, the spotlight completely blinding me. Then, we jumped off of the platform and ran out of the ring. We were immediately enveloped in hugs.

“That was so good!” Barbara said, squeezing my arms to my sides. I awkwardly patted her back. “I’m so proud of you guys! That was amazing to watch! It was like there was a language you guys were speaking that no one else could understand.”

Damian was there too. “It was acceptable,” he grunted begrudgingly.

Jason gave Dick a silent hug and whispered something in his ear. Dick smiled softly at him and said something back. Jason nodded and patted his back. I had a general idea what they said.

Barbara finally let go of me. She wiped at her eyes. “Alright, guys,” she said. “I need to get this show on the road, but Dick,” she said to me. She leaned in a little. “I think you’re the miracle the other Dick needed. You brought the love of performing back to him. I haven’t seen him this alive in a long time. So thank you.”

I smiled. “I’m glad that my time here was not a complete waste. I will miss you guys. I feel like I’ve known you all forever.”

I said my goodbyes to everyone as my time was running out. A few tears were shed here and there.

“Bye, Steph, bye, Dami, bye, Jay,” I said as I left the big tent. I lightly kissed Barbara’s cheek. “Bye, Babs. Thanks for everything. Keep watching out for Dick, yeah? I might come back someday, so I want him to be here still, got it? I need my performing partner.”

Dick snorted from beside me, but he blushed. “You’re so egoistic,” he said.

“We’re the same person, Dickie,” I teased. I waved one last goodbye to everyone else. I changed back into my black t-shirt, pants and sweatshirt. Then, I followed Dick to Cass’ trailer.

I knocked, and she opened it.

“Dick,” she said with a knowing smile. “How was your performance?”

I grinned. “Perfect, thank you. It was beautiful. You’re amazing, Cass.” I handed the costume back to her.

She shook her head. “A parting gift.”

I paused a moment before taking it back. “Okay, then. But I’m planning on coming back someday, got it? And I want an even more magnificent costume. If this is what you pull off in half a day, I want to know what you can do with more planning.”

She laughed lightly. “Of course, Dick. Thank you for everything, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re Dick’s miracle.”

“So I’ve been told. I glad I am,” I admitted. “He’s happy here. He just needed a little push in the right direction and someone to help him find his lost passion.”

Cass patted my arm. “Thank you, Dick. I hope you have the greatest luck in finding your brother. Do not lose hope.”

I smiled softly. “Thank you, Cass.”

She nodded and I left her trailer. Dick was waiting outside for me. He still had his costume on but had tossed a sweater over it.

“So,” Dick started. “You’re going now?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Looks like it.”

He swallowed. “I’ll miss you, man. It’s stupid because you’re me basically, but…”

I hugged him, surprising him. “Hey, I get it. I’ll miss you too. And everyone else.”

He hugged me back. I noticed that he was slightly shorter than me.

We started walking towards the other end of the circus again. He followed me behind the tent and I moved the tarp. The blue circle on the ground was nearly completely red now, just a sliver of the blue glow was still visible. Time was almost out. I stood on the circle and turned back to Dick.

“Hey, stay safe, you got it?” I said. “No flipping off buildings without my supervision.”

He laughed lightly. “Yeah, got it.” There was a short moment of silence. “Hey, Dick. Thank you. Really. I’ve decided not to leave. This is… This is my home. My family is here. And I’m happy here. You’ve really helped me see that.”

“You’re welcome, Dick.”

Light started enveloping me. “Goodbye, Dick.”

“Bye, Dick,” he said with a wry smile. Before the white light completely covered me, Dick shouted. “Good luck finding your brother!”


	3. It's A Pirates Life For Me

 I landed in the absolute more inconvenient spot. See, I have teleportation sickness. I get a little dizzy after teleportation, so naturally, I took a step forward to steady myself, not expecting to find nothing there.

So I tumbled down ten feet towards the ground. It was really embarrassing, especially considering that I had just done an entire performance on jumping and falling aesthetically a couple days back.

I landed on top of someone, and my first actual thought was, _Why does this man smell like rotten fish? And oh ma gawd, he has lice!_

I quickly climbed off the man, but before I could say anything or process my surroundings, something hard hit me over the head, and I blacked out.

When I woke up a while later, I was lying on the ground. I pushed myself up with a groan. My head complained at that movement.

Opening my eyes, I realized that I was sitting in a cell.

Two people stood in front of me, on the other side of the bars, with crossed arms, one of them pointing a gun straight at my face.

I quickly put my hands up. “Woah! Woah! Okay, let’s put the weapon down. I mean no harm.”

I glanced up at the wielder of the offending weapon. It was me.

“Bruce will shit himself if he ever saw you,” I muttered. The safety of the gun was clicked off. “Okay, I’m sorry!” I looked at the other man.

It was Damian. A much older Damian. I nearly mistook him for a younger Bruce, but the shape of the eyes were definitely Talia’s, so it had to Damian. He had a full grown beard, and his face was weather worn. A tricorn hat sat on his head, and it had a large feather tucked in it. Again, it wasn’t the Damian I was searching for. Well, another twenty-four hours to kill then.

Damian spoke first. “Who are ye?” He asked.

“Um…” I looked from him to Dick then back to him. I pointed to Dick. “You don’t see the resemblance?” In all honesty, I didn’t see it at first. The Dick from this world, well, he was different. He was nearly as tall as Damian, and he also wore a scowl of sorts. Not as harsh as Damian’s, but it was turned the wrong way to be a smile. He had thick stubble that looked like he hadn’t shaved in a long time. His hair also looked a bit greasy, making me feel rather uncomfortable because I take pride in my looks, thank you.

“Aye, I see th' resemblance, but I be askin' ye t' explain it, scallywag,” Damian growled.

I chuckled nervously. “Well, I’m him. From another world.”

“Maybe he's from th' New World,” Dick whispered. “Or he's one o' those blasted English folk. Certainly don’t sound like it though.”

I quickly searched through my limited knowledge of history. From the attire and the speech (and the foul smell), I deducted that they were pirates. And not modern pirates at that, because that gun looked older than my Alfred’s grandfather.

“No!” I said quickly. “I’m not from the New World, and I’m not British. Um, you see, I’m from the future? I came here to find someone,” I explained. I really hoped that I wouldn’t have to go through this speech in every world. “But I can’t go back to my world for another day, so if you’d kindly let me stay alive until then?”

Damian glared at me for a long time. “I don't trust 'im. But he don't seem harmful. Let 'im live. We'll drop 'im off tomorrow mornin'.”

“Aye, Cap'n.” Dick said. He flicked the safety back onto the gun.

I leapt to my feet. “Wait! Please, you have to let me stay! I need to be in the same place to get back home!”

Damian turned and walked out of the room. Dick follows on his heels, casting a neutral look at me. I couldn’t read him, unfortunately.

The door slammed behind them, and I was left alone.

I slid down against the bars with a sigh. The wood below me groaned. I took in my surroundings. There were three cells. I was in the one closest to the door. The others were empty, save for a skeleton propped up against the side of the third cell. I shivered. There was a small circular window on the wall of the cell, and peeking out, I saw nothing but blue water for miles and miles.

I paced the short length of the cell, thinking of how the hell I was going to convince “Cap’n Damian” to let me stay on his ship for the next twenty four hours. If he dropped me off on an island in the middle of nowhere, I would surely be stuck in this world forever.

Finally, I picked the lock. I realize that it was a bad move, considering I wanted Damian’s trust, but I was getting cabin fever and mild claustrophobia from the smelly cells.

As I pushed open the heavy metal door, I stepped out onto the deck. The sun had set while I was in the cell, and stars were appearing in the darkened sky. Oddly, there was no one on the deck.

Loud and rowdy laughter was coming from one end of the ships, so I headed there. It was actually coming from below deck, in the crew’s quarters. The trapdoor was open, and the smell of food and rum was sweaty men was coming from there as well.

I descended down the rickety stairs. One by one, the men noticed me and they stopped talking and eating.

I waved hesitantly. “Hello, um, I’m kind of new here, and your captain doesn’t really seem to like me that much, so I’m hoping you guys can convince him to let me stay?”

“Shiver me timbers! Who are ye?” One of them, Jason, by the looks of it, asked. “Ye look like Dickie, but ye don't sound like 'im 'n ye sure don't look like 'im!”

“I am Dick!” I said, a bit affronted. I opened my mouth to say more, but was cut off.

“Blimey, well, th' cap'n won't like wha' ye did wit' yer hair. 'n gettin' rid o' th' stubble,” another one, Wally, I think, crowed with laughter.

I crossed my arms and glared at them. “Hey!” They quieted down again. “Well, I’m not _your_ Dick. I’m from someplace else. I just look like him, okay? Anyway, I’m looking for someone. He’s about eighteen years old, might have appeared eight months ago?”

The men snickered. “Unless ye're natterin' about Li’l B's imaginary friend, no luck, mate.”

I sighed. Looks like he’s not here then. “Alright, thanks.” I turned to go.

“Ahoy, where ye goin', pretty lad? Come, sit, eat wit' us!” One of them yelled after me. I turned slowly, raising an eyebrow. “Don't worry, we won't try anythin'.”

I thought a moment before flouncing over and sitting down between two of them. “Oh, I’m not worried. I can easily break your wrist should you try anything.” A plate filled with bread, fruit and meat was set in front of me. I had to admit it smelled pretty good, and I didn’t eat anything before leaving for my mission.

I looked around for forks and knives, but there were no such utensils on hand. I looked around at the other pirates.

Their grease stained hands told me more than enough.

“Aw, look at 'im. ‘e's civilized!" Jason crowed, slapping the wooden table hard with his large hand. I gave him a glare.

Pirates really were starting to get on my nerves. But instead of answering, I grabbed a large leg of meat from my plate and took a large bite. Juice ran down my chin and I fought the urge to wipe it.

The meat was delicious otherwise. It was juicy and tender, flavored with exotic spices, no doubt. I reached for the bread next, ripping it into more manageable pieces, popping grapes into my mouth in between bites. Then, with all the crew members still staring at me, I grabbed the nearest goblet, drained all the alcohol inside, and slammed it back down.

“Don’t tell me what I am,” I said, swallowing. “I’ve had enough of that in my life.”

There was silence. Then, someone started clapping, followed by another, then another. Soon, the entire crew joined in, to my surprise. They started standing up and leaving the room, dinner apparently over. A few of them slapped my back, telling me that I had spunk, and the captain would like me.

When they were all gone, I wiped my mouth and surrounding area with my sweater sleeve. I left the room as well, but I didn’t go into the crew’s quarters like the others had done.

I went towards the captain’s quarters, my original destination before I had gotten slightly sidetracked. Approaching the separate cabin, I knocked gently on the door. There was a loud thump inside. I frowned. Another thump.

I tried the door handle. It was open, so I pushed it open. I poked my head in, my eyes widening at the sight. Then, a gunshot went off, and I yelped, pulling the door shut behind me.

Silence followed.

I could not believe what I had just seen.

Damian had been lying on his bed, reading a large map of some sort, _Dick_ was _riding_ him, making obscene noises that I was personally quite familiar with. Then, Damian pointed his gun at me and shot, but he had missed, I think on purpose.

I felt like I had to wash my eyes after that. Not that I’m against people’s sexuality choices, but _how_ can anyone act so casual during sex? With their first mate at that? Did the rest of the crew members know about this? Well, their comments sure made more sense now.

This had to be all levels of fucked up. I knew that I was going to be seeing doubles for a while when I took this job, but I sure as hell did not sign up to watch live porn of myself with someone that I’ve seen as a little brother for as long as I can remember.

Shaking my head, I pushed myself away from the door and wandered to the other end of the ship. I looked out over the ocean and up at the stars for a long time. I also studied the crow’s nest that I had fallen out of earlier that day.

A familiar clearing of the throat behind me shook me from my thoughts.

My eyes dropped to a very familiar figure wearing a very familiar expression permanently set on “done with your shit”.

“Alfred!” I said, my face immediately breaking into a grin.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “So, you’re from another world?” He asked, thankfully with proper grammar. “And I’m assuming there is another me in this world, yes?”

I nodded. “Of course there is.”

He nodded. “I see. Well, I assumed as much, seeing that I’ve never actually told any of the crew members my name. They just know me as ‘Cook’.”

“That’s horrible.”

“That’s life.” He looked me up and down. “Why don’t you come with me? You’ll need a place to stay tonight. It gets really cold at night here. You can take my son’s room. He wouldn’t mind.”

“Oh, I don’t want to intrude, Alfie, really. I can go without one night’s sleep.”

“I’m not doubting you can, but I suggest staying away from Captain Damian until he’s had a night’s sleep, is all.”

Reminded of what I had briefly seen, my face flared up. “So you know about…?”

“The captain and the first mate? Yes, I do. They grew up together. From what I know, Dick ran away with the captain the first chance he got. Then they became pirates together. Not the most romantic love story, but they seem to be happy.”

“Too happy.”

Alfred started walking away. I followed. He went down into the dining hall and then into the kitchens. We crossed through the rather organized kitchen and came to two small rooms in the back.

“This is my room,” Alfred said, pointing to the room on the right. “My son’s room is in there.” He knocked the pushed the door open. A young boy, around the age of twelve was sitting on the bed, reading a book. He looked up. My eyes widened. _This_ was a younger version of Bruce. Baby B suddenly made sense too.

“You brought your _child_ onto a pirate ship?” I couldn’t help but ask. I had never questioned Alfred’s parenting until now.

“Well, I very well couldn’t let him stay with his drunk mother, could I?” Alfred said. “Bruce, this is a good man. He will be staying with you tonight.”

Bruce sat up, closing his book. He looked me up and down. Finally, he sighed and scooted over in his bed. “Well, c’mon then,” he said, rolling his eyes at me. “You’re letting the cold air in.”

I stepped in hesitantly. I turned to look at Alfred again. He just smiled kindly and went into his own room, closing the door. I pushed the door closed and sat down next to Bruce slowly.

“Dad said you’re from the future. Are you?” He asked, glaring at me.

His eyes held the same ferocity that I saw in Batman all the time. I swallowed, feeling a bit intimidated. “Yeah, kind of. I’m actually from a different universe.”

Bruce nodded, as if made total sense. “What was this world like?”

“Different from this one, that’s for sure.” I said with a little laugh.

Bruce nodded again. “I know. You don’t look like Richard. You do sort of, but you do not.” He paused for a moment. “If there are two of you, are there two of me as well?”

I nodded. “More than two, actually. There are probably millions of universes. I haven’t been to all of them.”

He stared at me solemnly. “Then what are you doing here? Don’t you like your universe?”

“I do,” I said truthfully. “But I’m looking for someone. My brother. He’s missing.”

“Oh. Well, I hope you find him. You seem like a good person, so your brother is probably also a good person if you want to find him.”

I smiled. “That’s kind of you.”

“Dad says that I should be kind to people. But the pirates are not very kind to people. Dad tells me not to be like them.”

“I don’t exactly agree with their ways,” I started, “But they may be kind people. Can I tell you a secret?”

Bruce nodded, eyes wide and expression solemn.

“Well, I have another brother. He doesn’t act very nice, and he always seems angry. But deep down? He’s a very sweet person,” I said, thinking of Jason.

“Hm. Wish I had a brother.” He sighed.

“There’s no other kids on the ship, huh. I’m sorry, Bruce.”

Bruce scoffed. “I don’t want another kid on the ship. Kids are boring. They’re stupid. But the other crew members don’t want to talk to me. They think I’m a kid. They think I’m stupid.”

I looked at the book he had been reading before I had come in. It was on astrology and navigation. “I don’t think you’re stupid,” I said.

Bruce rolls his eyes. “You’ll be gone in less than a day. What you think doesn’t matter anymore.”

“’Course it does,” I said. “One person is a lot better than none, Bruce. Well, two, I guess. You dad.”

“Three,” was Bruce’s quiet answer.

“Sorry?”

“Three people now. You, Dad and Tim. He’s the navigator. He doesn’t think I’m stupid. He lets me read his books and look at his maps as long as I don’t distract him from work.”

I beamed. “See? I’m sure they’re good people inside.”

Bruce sighed. “Yeah.”

“Are you tired of the ship?” I asked, noticing his expression.

He shook his head. “Not exactly. I just wish the others will treat me better, y’know? I want to help out. Dad doesn’t want me getting involved and whatever, but sometimes they’re so oblivious it just makes me want to scream and jump overboard.”

“That’s a bit too much, isn’t it?”

“You haven’t seen them? I mean, I can tell some of them are smart, but I just don’t know how they can’t see the most obvious things! It’s really frustrating.” Bruce was ranting angrily now. “And the captain and the first mate as so caught up in each other they’re not running the crew properly! It’s just chaos day in and day out. Not to mention, the captain’s so absorbed in his own mission to find some secret treasure that he thinks little of anything else. Bit obsessive, am I right?” He finished, throwing his hands up and glaring out the little circular window.

“Wow, sounds like you know a lot.”

Bruce snorts. “Way more than everyone else, it seems. Just wish they’d take me seriously.”

“I feel ya,” I said quietly. We sat there for a while, lost in our own thoughts. Bruce started nodding off, his head lolling to the side and leaning against my shoulder. I put my arm around him, feeling protective. It was like having a baby Damian again, full of anger. I hadn’t planned on falling asleep, but I did anyway.

~

_“That’s not creepy at all,” Damian interrupted. “You’re not very good at telling stories, Grayson. That sounded pedophilic.”_

_ Dick _ _frowned. “Hey, you fell asleep on me many times before! So did Tim! And Jason! I’m just good with kids, and you’re jealous.”_

_ Jason’s  _ _eyebrows furrowed. “I did not fall asleep on you.”_

_“Yes, you did,” Dick argued. “That one night after patrol. Bruce was at a gala, so I was supposed to go patrolling with you and you fell asleep on me on the way back in the Batmobile.”_

_ Jason _ _huffed. “You promised not to mention that ever again.”_

**_Dick_ ** _cleared his throat. “Hey, guys. I just want to hear the story? I’m interested in hearing what happens. I hope someone gets thrown overboard.”_

_Everyone, except Jason, gave him disturbed looks._

**_Dick_ ** _blinked innocently. “What? It looks cool in the movies, okay?”_

~

I was shaken awake by Bruce before the sun was even up. He gave me a stern look. “You’re a mess,” he said. “We’ve arrived.”

“What time is it?” I asked, groaning.

He shrugged. “Before dawn.”

“Wow, specific. Alright, I’m up.” I sat up straight, stretching. A few bones popped and my muscles felt sore from sleeping sitting up all night, against a hard wall. “Ow.”

“What a baby. Anyway, the captain’s looking for you. And he’s… angry would be an understatement. Livid, irate, fuming.”

“Damn it,” I muttered. “Well, it’s been nice knowing you, Bruce. Good luck with everything. I hope you find that your problems are soon solved.”

He raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing me, but he nodded anyway. “Good luck to you as well,” Bruce said.

I walked out onto the deck quickly. Crew members were unloading crates and bringing them into canoes.

“You.”

I turned. Damian was standing there, looking, as Bruce said, livid. “Come wit' me.” He turned to go.

I rushed after him. “Damian, sorry, Captain, please, you have to let me stay. I need to get back to my world. I need to find my brother. You don’t understand, Cap-”

“I don't give a damn about yer brother,” he hissed. “Ye came here o' yer owns accord, so now that ye're in me world, on me ship, ye follow me rules, savvy?"

I growled at him. Before I could retort, he stomped down the plank and onto a canoe. I jumped off after him, rocking the entire boat. He didn’t flinch. A moment later, Dick carefully slipped down into the canoe as well. The crew member started rowing while I glared at Damian.

Alright, so guilt tripping won’t work, and playing nice doesn’t seem to work, so it left me with one last resort – begging.

Obviously, Damian was in a rather trigger-happy mood, so I shut up for times being. But as we approached the shore, I started getting a little more anxious.

Damian waited for me to step off first, and I did so tentative. Soft sand gave under my shoes, and I followed the other pirates towards the shore. They were walking into the little town. The air was hot and humid, sticking to my skin and making me rather uncomfortable.

Then, Dick fell into step beside me. I glanced at him, momentarily ticked that he was taller than me.

“Ye're lookin' fer ye brother?" He asked.

I nodded silently. “Do you think you can talk to your captain for me? My um, means of transport are on your ship.”

Dick shook his head slowly. “I cannot sway 'im. I be sorry.”

“But are you guys married or something? He’ll listen to you, right?” I asked, a bit desperately, at the same time, trying not to remember the night before.

“Nay, not married exactly,” Dick said, sounding a bit pained. “But together.”

Well, wasn’t this the frustrating process. Dick wandered away once we reached town, but I followed Damian. He obviously wanted me to go away, but I couldn’t just do that.

He walked stopped to talk to one of the crew members, and I stepped between them.

“Okay, you listen to me!” I demanded. “This may not be my world, but I’m not some pushover of a person that will let you just tell me what to do. You don’t know who I am, and I don’t know who you are, but so far, I’ve shown you much more respect than you have shown me! I will not be taking no for an answer, so I _will_ be getting back on that ship.”

He did not look impressed. “Shoot ‘im,” he said to the crew member I had interrupted.

Immediately, a gun was pulled out and cocked. I grabbed the man’s hand and twisted it, sending the gun clattering to the ground. Damian pulled out his own pistol. I swept his legs out from under him, and snatched the gun from his hand as well.

“I’m so sick and tired of this. I _will_ take your ship should it come down to it,” I snarled, pointing the gun right back at Damian. Obviously, I had no intentions to shoot. But they were pretty useful for threats, I’ll admit.

Damian just laughed.

Breathing hard from my angry rant, I was a little confused now. “What?”

He pushed himself up and stood. He took the gun from my hands. “Come with me.”

His change of tone caught me off guard. He walked away, back towards the beach. I jogged after him. “I wasn’t joking, you know?” I said.

“I know. But you are quite the entertainment, I will admit,” he said. He was no longer speaking in the harsh and difficult to understand tones the other pirates spoke on.

“Wait, you can speak normally?”

He scoffed, sounding rather offended. I bristled at that. “Of course I can. I’ve been a pirate for what, four years? Before that, what do you think I did?”

“Um…”

“It just gives me more authority over the other pirates,” he said offhandedly. “Anyway, you actually planned on stealing my ship, should I have denied you any longer?”

He sat in a canoe and gestured for me to sit as well. He whistled and Wally came over and rowed us back to the ship. He climbed back up, and I followed, feeling more and more confused.

“Yeah.”

“Interesting. And how did you plan to do that?” He asked, walking towards his cabin. He left the door open, so I assumed he invited me in. I sat in a chair, eyes avoiding the bed completely as Damian poured rum into two glasses. He handed me one.

“I’m not telling you that. You could be tricking me into telling you so you can double cross me and toss me off the ship at the last minute,” I huffed.

Damian grinned easily. “I give you my word. I will not attempt to thwart you. You may stay on the ship.”

I pressed my lips together. Then, I sighed. “I don’t know. It was a threat I made in the spur of a moment. I don’t exactly plan things out, you see. I do things as I go.”

“Like a pirate.”

“Don’t compare me to a pirate. I’m far from a pirate’s standards.”

“Don’t be so sure of yourself,” Damian said. “You… are Dick, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Hm.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I’ve never seen Dick like this before. I will say, quite attractive,” Damian mused.

I cleared my throat. “Okay. Let’s get something straight here, alright? I’m not against _whatever_ it is you guys have, seeing that you’re not married, but,” I sighed. “I promise I’m not crazy or anything, but it’s just really weird for me, because that brother I’m looking for? His name is Damian. He looks like you. And he definitely does not hit on me, so please don’t do that?”

Damian was silent for a while. “I did not hit you,” he said slowly.

“No, I meant-” I stopped, forgetting that I was no longer in the modern era. “Never mind. Just… keep the romantic advances to a minimum, will you?”

Damian shrugged, tossing back the rest of his drink.

~

_“Wait, so are we making you uncomfortable?” **Jason** asked, though the expression on his face did not at all make him seem sorry. He even looked more smug, wrapping his arm tighter around **Dick**._

_Dick_ _rolled his eyes. “That was only the_ second _world I’ve been to, okay? Cut me some slack! I wasn’t aware that in other universes I’d be dating the people who are my family! I got used to it by the fifth world.”_

**_Jason_ ** _looked less smug now. He turned to **Dick**. “I still don’t like him. There’s not satisfaction coming from teasing him.”_

_ Jason  _ _cleared his throat. “I beg to differ. Dickiebird is the most fun to tease. He blushes so much more easily than the other two emotionless ones.” He glared at Damian especially._

**_Tim_ ** _scoffed. “Damian is not emotionless. He’s just… afraid to confront them.”_

_“I am not!” Damian snapped, pulling away from **Tim**. “Tt, I’ll just go sit somewhere else then!” He stands to leave and several shouts of protest from **Dick** , Dick, and **Tim** arose. Damian came back a moment later with the coffee pot. He sat down next to **Tim** again, and **Tim** wrapped all his limbs around Damian like an overly attached octopus. “Continue, Grayson.”_

~

And so Damian let me stay. As the sun sank lower in the sky, the pirates returned to the ship.

They were all amazed that I was still alive, and avoided me after that. However, I magically managed to coerce them into taking a picture with me. I also personally searched out Bruce and Alfred. Poor Bruce wasn’t tall enough to fit in the frame, so Tim had to carry him, much to Bruce’s disgust. I dragged Damian, who I think have gotten through to, and Dick out onto the deck as well.

After everyone got over the wonders of my phone, I managed to get a picture. I knew I would be out of time really soon, but I had one thing to accomplish beforehand.

I dragged Damian aside.

“Hey, look, man, there’s this kid on board,” I started.

“Yes, I know. Cook’s son.”

“But hear me out, he’s really smart. He is absolutely brilliant, and he really wants to help out,” I said.

“He’s a child.”

I sighed. “Yes, but he has the mind of an wise man, trust me. Just… reach out to him, maybe. His name is Bruce.”

Damian was silent for a while. “I’ll think about it.”

I reached for the ropes on the side of the ship that could lead me up to the crow’s nest. The coast, which was far behind us now, was bathed in a beautiful golden light. It was time.

“But don’t tell his father,” I said as I started to climb. The pirates watched as I scaled up the ropes effortlessly, and I couldn’t help but do a couple tricks at the end to show off a little.

I stood on the circle and the light shrouded me, and the world disappeared from my sights.


	4. EPILOGUE: Where He Hangs His Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick refresher, should anyone need it.
> 
> UNDERLINED - Canon universe characters  
> BOLD - Demon AU characters

As Dick finished up his last story, Damian started feeling a bit nervous. It had been four years since he had seen his father or his friends.

Sensing his nervousness, **Tim** squeezed his hand gently. Everyone stood. Dick gave everyone hugs, even though **Jason** just awkwardly patted Dick’s back.

Tim cleared his throat. “The device is going to activate in ten minutes. We need to go,” he said. He, Jason, and Dick were waiting by the door.

Damian turned to the others. **Dick** would not even look at him.

“Hey, it’s not like I’m leaving forever,” Damian joked. But his own voice cracked in the middle. “I’ll be back.” Even then, it felt like a very final good-bye. Maybe it was the idea of being worlds away, not even in the same universe.

 **Dick** pulled him into a sudden hug, wrapping his arms around Damian’s chest and squeezing hard. He buried his face in Damian’s sweatshirt.

“Fuck,” Damian wheezed. “Watch- Watch your strength.”

 **Dick** quickly pulled away in alarm. “Sorry, sorry. You okay?” He patted Damian’s chest twice. “Yeah, you’re fine.” He looked his best friend up and down. “How long do you think you’ll be gone?” he asked quietly.

Damian shrugged. “A few days? A week at most.”

“And if you can’t come back?” **Dick** asked.

“Don’t say that!” **Tim** cut in with a harsh whisper. “Don’t- Don’t say that. You’re coming back right? You’d better come back, because if you don’t I’ll- I’ll-”

Damian smiled weakly as his eyes started getting a bit wet. “I’m sure you will,” he said. They stared at each other for a moment. Then, **Tim** pulled Damian down by the shoulders and kissed him firmly on the mouth. From behind him, Damian heard Tim groan and turn away.

“Don’t you dare leave me here,” **Tim** whispered against Damian’s lips. “You can’t possibly leave me for that Timothy.”

“He’s my brother as well as an ass. I’m not leaving you for anyone,” Damian whispered back. He gently pecked **Tim** ’s lips again. “I’ll be back. I promised and I intend to keep it.”

 **Tim** finally let go of him. He nodded tightly at Damian and then stepped back. “Well, get going then. Sooner you get out of here, sooner you get back.”

Damian smiled, kissing **Tim** one last time before following his brothers out of his penthouse.

As they slipped out of the window at the end of the hallway, Jason elbowed Damian in the ribs.

“What?” Damian hissed.

“So you and Timbo, huh? If I remember correctly, you hated his guts.”

“Oh, shut up, Jason,” Tim snapped, pushing the older man. Jason laughed, nearly falling off of the roof they were currently running over.

“Uncomfortable?” Jason teased. “Baby bat doesn’t compare up to your girlfriend?”

“You have a girlfriend?” Damian asked in surprise.

“Yes,” Tim said, with a tint of exasperation. “I’m not a complete recluse.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Jason said.

“Guys, please,” Dick whined front the front of the group. “We have three minutes.”

“We’re nearly there, Dickiebird. We won’t miss it.”

“At this pace you will.  Getting old?”

“Says the oldest.”

“You’re second oldest.”

“Okay, but does it count if I wasn’t alive for a few of those years?”

“Uh, yeah! Shakespeare’s like what, three hundred now? We still celebrate his birthday!”

“Shakespeare over four hundred years old, and no one knows his actual birthdate.”

“Oh, right, sorry, Mr. Literature Geek. Nearly forgot you jerk off to sonnets and tragedies after patrol each night.”

“Watch your mouth, Replacement.”

“Learned from the best.”

“You still call him Replacement? It’s been how many years?”

“Well, some people don’t change as much as you do, bratling.”

“I’m going to punch your teeth in.”

“Are you sure you’re not out of practice, baby bat? I don’t see any particularly bad guys running around here.”

“I hate you, Drake.”

“But aren’t you kind of dating, well, it’s not _me_ , but it is-”

It earned him a punch. Before Tim could return the gesture, they had arrived.

Three glowing circles on top of a building, hidden under a large Dumpster. They each stood on one, and Dick pulled Damian onto his circle with him.

He wrapped an arm around him, holding Damian to his chest, which looked rather comical, seeing that Damian was half a head taller than Dick.

“Hold on, Little D,” Dick said. And then, they were engulfed in light. Damian felt like he was falling and rising at the same time. His eyes squeezed shut when the light became too bright and the world around them dissipated.

When the ground reappeared under Damian’s feet, he stumbled forward, feeling momentarily dizzy.

Dick caught him before he fell off of the little platform.

They were standing in a small glass tube. A glowing blue circle was under their feet. The tube opened and they all stepped out. Damian looked around.

The cave mostly looked the same. A few things updated, some things changed here and there. There were an overabundance of coffee cups that should not be there.

Dick grinned at him. “How does it feel to be home?” He asked.

Damian did not answer. He just kept trying to take it in. Then, the door to the cave opened, and Alfred walked in. Their eyes met for a moment and then Damian ran at him, tackling the older man in a hug. Damian stood a lot taller than Alfred, but he did not care. He felt like a child again. Damian felt his eyes start to water, and he squeezed Alfred tighter.

“God, Alfred,” he murmured.

“It’s good to see you again, too, Master Damian,” Alfred said. Damian pulled back. Alfred took out a handkerchief and dabbed gently at his eyes. He smiled. “You look the splitting image of your father.”

Damian could not help but smile. “And you do not look a day older than when I last saw you.” Then he paused. “Where is Father?”

Alfred turned solemn. “He is upstairs. In his bedroom. He has been there for a very long time now. The doctors believe he may never become well enough again.”

Damian arched an eyebrow, an annoying habit he learned from his boyfriend. “Are we talking about the same person? Father?”

Alfred’s lips thinned. He nodded at the others, who were standing there, listening. “Maybe you should all come along. Master Bruce is awake right now.”

The four of them followed Alfred up into the manor and then, towards Bruce’s room. They passed Damian’s old room, and Damian looked at the closed door, smiling slightly at the scars and dents engraved into the wood from his tantrums.

 At the end of the hall, in the master suite, was Bruce’s room.

Alfred knocked twice before pushing the door open.

“Master Bruce, you have visitors.”

Dick, Jason, and Tim filed in first along with Alfred. Damian waited out in the hallway, letting his brothers slowly break the news to Bruce first, to avoid giving the man a heart attack.

“Hey, old man,” Jason said gently. It was a tone Damian had never heard him use. Except when talking to young children. “How are you feeling?”

“Jason!” An old, wheezy voice cheered loudly. That was _not_ Bruce’s voice. It could not be! “Jason! You brought Dick! And the other boy!”

Jason chuckled. “Yes, I brought Tim.”

A series of loud coughs echoes through the room. “Did you finish all your homework today? And is that Mr. Stark still on your ass about everything? If he is, I can still go speak to him for you.”

“No thanks, Bruce,” Jason said. “I think I can handle it.”

“And Dick! Please tell me you’ve abandoned that horrendous new uniform you have. It is a disgrace,” Bruce chided, his voice weak but disapproving.

“I’ve gotten rid of that thing long ago, it’s okay,” Dick reassured. Damian dared to peek into the room.

Bruce’s room looked the same as it always has. Nothing had been moved around. But the man lying in the bed, propped up by pillows certainly was not Bruce. He had never exactly aged very fast, but now, his hair was all grey, his face pale and gaunt, reminding Damian eerily of a really old and dying Joker.

But Bruce seemed not to notice at all. He seemed to be living in a universe of his own completely. If Damian was not wrong, Bruce had referred to Jason’s old English teacher who often gave Jason a hard time when he was around fifteen. And Dick’s wardrobe disaster when he first went off to become Nightwing, as well as the fact that Bruce did not know Tim at all.

“That’s good. So what have you been up to recently? I don’t think I’ve seen you around. Well, the manor is pretty big,” Bruce chattered.

“Actually,” Jason cut him off. “We need to tell you something, Bruce.”

“Hm? What is it? Oh, no, the Joker isn’t causing trouble again is he? I’ll go down to the cave right now and- OH!” His eyes landed on Tim. “I- I meant- I’m going to… cave under the pressure! HAHA! Who are you? Are you one of Jay’s friends? I’m so proud of you for making friends, Jason!”

“Bruce!” Tim finally said loudly.

Bruce stopped talking. “You know me? Do I know you? You look a bit young to be running a company. Are you someone’s son? I’m sorry, did you say who you were?”

“Bruce,” Tim said. “Snap out of it. Come back to the present now.”

It took a moment. Bruce gave Tim an odd look, then something started draining into his eyes. His hands started shaking hard. He made a few choked sounds, and sank down into the pillows.

Bruce looked around the room. He looked at Dick, then Jason, then Tim.

Then, he leaned over the side of the bed, grabbed the bucket that was on the ground and promptly threw up in it. Damian winced slightly, but the others just watched on solemnly.

“Bruce,” Dick said gently. “We have something to tell you.”

Bruce wiped his mouth with a towel that had been placed on his bedside table. He took a long sip of water as well, his hand shaking violently. “No,” he croaked. “I don’t- I don’t want to hear anything.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “Not this time. Look, remember that transportation device we built? The one we started four years ago, when Damian first went missing?”

Bruce looked deathly sick now. He shook his head weakly, mouthing the word “no” over and over again.

Jason pressed on. “You can’t keep ignoring it, Bruce! He’s been gone for four years! And all you did was lay in your bed and grow weaker and weaker while your city falls apart! We’ve been doing all we can to keep Gotham from being overrun, keeping your company from falling into pieces, _and_ we tried to find Damian!” Jason’s voice kept rising.

Dick finally rested a hand on Jason’s shoulder.

Bruce was practically hiding in his covers now. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Jason sat down heavily at the foot of Bruce’s bed. “No, I’m sorry for yelling at you.” Then he smiled wryly. “Hey, Bruce?”

Bruce gave him a distrustful look.

“Happy birthday.”

There was a long pause. “It’s my birthday?” Bruce finally asked, his voice small and nervous.

Tim nodded. “Yeah, it is. Alfred made you this big cake and everything.”

“Oh.” Bruce did not say any more.

“Do you want to see what present we got you this year?” Dick prompted.

Bruce shrugged.

“It’s a great present,” Jason said. “I’m sure you’ll love it. Please? Take a look, for us.”

Bruce finally sighed and nodded. “Okay.”

“Come in,” Dick called.

Damian took a moment to collect himself. Then, he pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

He stood by the door as he waited for Bruce to see him.

“Hello, Father,” Damian said, flashing a small, tentative smile. “Happy birthday.”

Bruce’s eyes got big. He grabbed Jason’s hand and squeezed it with a surprising amount of strength, if Jason’s uncomfortable expression was anything to go by. “That’s- That’s- That’s-” He said over and over again.

Jason nodded. “Yeah. We found him. And brought him back.”

Damian walked over to the other side of Bruce’s bed and knelt. “Yeah, I’m back.”

Bruce reached out a thin, frail hand and rested it gently on Damian’s head. “Damian…” he whispered, his voice cracking in the middle. “It’s… really you…?”

“It’s me, Father. Four years older, but me.”

Bruce’s eyes never left Damian’s face. But he reached out his hand, waving it impatiently. Dick grabbed his hand and pulled him up into a sitting position. It obviously took Bruce a lot of effort to do that. When Dick let go of him, Bruce frowned.

“Don’t just stand there!” He snapped, attitude changing quickly. “Help me up!”

Dick and Jason scrambled to get Bruce to his feet. Tim stood there, ready to assist should the need arise.

Jason and Dick each held Bruce on one side and helped Bruce to his feet. The man, who had not stood in nearly two years, was wobbly and weak on his feet. Damian stood as well.

Dick and Jason slowly helped Bruce towards Damian, where a really awkwardly positioned hug happened.

But it did not matter to Bruce. He was crying and holding on tightly to Damian, his fingers digging into Damian’s shoulders. They were the same height now, but Damian was still on his way to being taller than Bruce.

“Don’t cry, Father,” Damian said. “If you cry, I’m going to start crying.” His eyes started tearing up already. His Father, the stoic, emotionless Batman, was crying on him like a young child.

But Bruce did not stop crying. “I’m sorry,” he practically sobbed into Damian’s shoulder. “It’s all my fault, I should’ve tried harder, I was a horrible father! Damian, please forgive me.”

“No, no, you’re not!” Damian rebuked. He pulled back and held Bruce at arm’s length. Dick and Jason quickly rushed forward to hold Bruce up. Damian wiped furiously at his eyes. Then he angrily pointed a finger at his Father.

“You were not a horrible father!” He scolded. “Yes, you were a bit clueless and made mistakes, but what parent doesn’t? What matters to me is that you did not abandon me when I was at my worst, or when I made stupid decisions! I mean, at least you didn’t try to kill me like Mother did on countless occasions!”

Something seemed to snap into place in Bruce’s eyes. He blinked a few times, and everyone could practically see his weird persona, the one he had adopted for nearly four years, drain out of him. And just like that, Bruce was back.

The next couple of days were a complete blur for Damian. Many people stopped by the manor to see Damian as well as Bruce. Alfred cooked all of Damian’s favorite foods, convinced that his “new demon friends were starving you”. Damian did not tell Alfred that his “demon friend” Jason could rival his cooking, and ate his pancakes in silence.

Damian also took a day trip to Metropolis to surprise an old friend of his.

Damian sat in a cozy sized office, feet propped up on the table and twirling a pen in his fingers. In his other hand, he was holding up a manila folder, reading its contents. The door to the office opened a while later. A slight scream, followed by coffee spilled across the floor.

Damian lowered the folder. “Four years gone, and you _still_ have not gotten any more graceful. You disappoint me, Kent,” Damian said, casually swinging his feet off of the table. He crossed his legs and folded his hands over his knee. He smirked at the man towering in the doorway, his eyes wide and glasses nearly slipping off his face. “Hey, Jon.”

Jon choked, pushing his glasses back up his face. “D-Damian? Am I dreaming? Holy cow,” Jon’s face burst into a smile. “You’re actually here!”

Damian rolled his eyes, but he could not keep the smile off his face. “Of course I am. And you seem to be pretty well off, Nurse Kent. Decided not to chase the same path daddy did?”

Jon gave Damian a crooked smile. “Heh, nah. Journalism was not my kind of scene. Reporters are kind of harsh.” Jon grabbed some napkins off his desk and started soaking up the spilled coffee.

Damian raised an eyebrow. “Does that stuff actually work on you?”

“No, but my coworkers think it’s suspicious that I can study all night and still come to work without being horribly grouchy each day. So… coffee.”

After tossing the sopping napkins, Jon quickly pulled up another chair. “Wow, I can’t believe you’re sitting in front of me. We all thought you were gone forever. Well, not really, but it was getting harder and harder to believe you’d ever come back. How- How have you been?”

Damian shrugged. “Decent.”

There was a long pause.

“Seriously? You disappear to another world for four years and that’s all you have to say about it? ‘Decent’?” Jon asked.

“I mean, what do you want me to say?”

Jon looked at him like he was crazy. “What happened? Where did you go? How did you survive? How did… you still end up shorter than me?”

Damian glared at Jon. “It’s not even half an inch, Kent. And it doesn’t count if you’re not exactly human, you know.” Damian then shrugged. “I don’t know. I went to another world. It’s… just another world. We’ve been to other worlds before. It’s not particularly special in any sense.” Then, a small half smile crept onto his face.

“Uh huh, I saw that smile. Who’d you meet?” Jon asked.

“Wipe that smile off your face, you look idiotic,” Damian said half-heartedly. “And what makes you think I met someone?”

Jon laughed. “You’ve got that cliché dreamy smile on your face. What _doesn’t_ make me think you met someone?”

“Okay, fine, I met someone.”

“And?”

“And nothing.”

Jon threw his hands up. “Oh come on, Damian! I’m your best friend, even though you’ve been gone for so long! You can tell me! Do I need to organize a sleepover or something? We can totally have a sleepover. Our old HQ is still there, though I may have lost the key. It’s okay, I’m sure I can pry the door open or something.”

“The door’s pressurized, and if you pried it open, it would flood everything inside with water,” Damian said dryly. “And is that thing still down there? Damn, we stopped using that even before I disappeared!”

“Hey, don’t change the subject. Tell me all the juicy details,” Jon said.

Damian sighed heavily. “You’re also no better at getting information out of people. But I guess I can tell you some things. So, I landed in this alternate universe, in Gotham…”

And so Damian told Jon. Most things, not everything. Some things were meant to be kept a secret.

~

At the end of his fifth day, Damian decided it was time.

“You’ll come back and visit, right, Dami?” Dick asked, hugging him and not letting go until Damian gave an affirmative.

“I promise,” Damian said, with fake exasperation. “I’ll be over to dinner some time every other week or something.”

“Okay, that’s too much,” Jason said. “Maybe every other month.” Damian gave him a half-hearted glare. Jason grinned. “Take care, kid,” Jason said, a bit gentler this time. “You’re may not being dealing with psychos bent of destroying humanity anymore, but demons are pretty iffy.”

“Don’t call me kid,” Damian said. But he nodded at Jason. “You be careful as well. You’re not exactly my age anymore.”

Damian turned to Tim next. Over the last few days, Damian had been picking up subtle differences between his brother Tim and his boyfriend Tim. It sounded so weird saying it like that. And maybe it was weird and wrong or something like that, but if he was bonded to a demon, he’d probably end up in hell when he died anyway. And since his boyfriend currently ruled the place, it did not sound all that bad.

For example, his brother got creases between his eyebrows when he concentrated, or that his hair was scandalously long. His brother Tim often wore baggy t-shirts and sweatpants around his family and friends, while Damian’s Tim liked a balance of practical and fashionable. He also kept his hair cropped a couple inches shorter than older Tim.

But they both had a fiery temper (Demon Tim more literally), an unhealthy affixation to coffee, and an insufferable older brother named Jason.

“Stay out of trouble, ya hear?” Tim asked. He tossed a small device to Damian.

“What’s this?” Damian asked, inspecting the tiny remote. It had two buttons.

“To activate the transportation device. The blue one opens up your side and you can step through. It’s only connected to this world,” Tim explained.

“And the red button?”

“Oh, that’s for us to contact you. It’s an answer call button.”

“Where the end call button?”

“There isn’t one.”

“Why not?”

“So you can’t hang up on us, duh.”

Damian snorted. “Well, I can just _not answer_ , can’t I?”

Tim shrugged. “If you can deal with the beeping.”

“Beeping?”

Tim smirked and pulled out a remote from his own pocket. It had several more buttons than Damian’s did. Tim pushed one of them. A moment later, Damian’s device started beeping, a horrible, loud, annoying beeping.

Damian frowned at the device. He shook it, but the beeping only grew louder.

“Better answer the call,” Tim said.

Damian pressed the red button. And the beeping stopped. A holographic image of Tim popped up.

“That’s what the red button does,” Tim said. His hologram said the same thing half a second later.

Damian rolled his eyes, but he pocketed the device. Tim held out his hand. Damian eyed it suspiciously. Then, he grasped it and shook his hand. It surprised him that Tim’s hand was rather rough and calloused, much like his own. Huh, another difference.

Finally, Damian turned to his father, who was currently getting around with a wheelchair until he can walk again. Alfred stood behind him.

“Stay safe, Damian,” Bruce said. His voice was a bit gruff, like he was trying to make up for the giddy behavior before.

Damian grinned, thinking back. “Yes, Father. I’ll make sure to.” He paused an moment before holding out his arms.

Bruce stared at him with a solemn, frozen expression.

“Come on,” Damian said with a teasing smile. “Stop with the cold Batman look. It doesn’t work on me anymore. Besides, you’re starting to remind me of the _other_ Bruce.”

A visible shiver ran went through Bruce. A couple nights ago at dinner, Damian had told everyone stories of the other world, trying his best to explain demons and hell. Obviously, it brought up the outrageous idea that Satan didn’t actually rule Hell, but Hell was definitely ruled by someone similar.

Bruce had sat frozen throughout the rest of dinner once Damian mentioned that the other Bruce was basically married to the former ruler of Hell, none other than the Joker. That’s how Damian found out that the Joker of Gotham City had committed suicide a few years back when he realized that there was no more Batman.

It was a rather somber dinner.

But Bruce gave a resigned sigh and opened his arms. Damian beamed and bent over to give him a hug.

“Do visit,” Bruce said. “As often as convenient for you.”

“Yes,” Alfred said. “And bring those new friends of your over sometime. We’d like to meet them.”

Damian grinned slyly. “Yes, that’s a good idea, I do believe.” He could already imagine what dinner would be like. It was an amazing idea, actually. “Thank you for everything, Alfred. If I never told you. I really appreciate it.”

Alfred smiled. “Of course, Master Damian.”

Damian took a deep breath and stepped into the glass tube. He nodded at Tim, who had taken a seat the computer. Tim typed a few things, and then turned around with a nod. The blue circle started glowing brighter. Damian took one last look around the cave, at his family, and smiled to himself. The light surrounded him, and the world disappeared.

A moment later, he stepped out of his closet and into his bedroom. The bed was still a mess, Tim’s doing.

Damian walked towards the kitchen, where he could hear voices talking and laughing. The smell of delicious food wafted around the penthouse as well.

Damian stopped at the doorway of the kitchen. None of them had seen him yet, and he just stood there and watched the scene.

Jason, in a red apron, waving a spatula around, pointing it at Dick. They were debating about something, though the words had no actual heat in it. Dick had a bowl of cereal between his legs, and he was eating it dry. Tim sat across from them, completely tuned out to the world. He was playing with some new prototype, frowning slightly in concentration, without the furrows between his eyebrows.

Damian smiled to himself, oddly content with the regular and domestic scene. He saunters into the kitchen.

He first runs his fingers through Tim’s hair, pulling his head back and pressing a kiss to his lips.

Tim hummed in pleasant surprise. Damian then took a seat next to Dick and grabbed half a handful of Fruit Loops and tossed one at Dick, who caught it in his mouth and laughed triumphantly.

Jason rolled his eyes and made a sarcastic remark, going back to the stove with his spatula.

Tim had gone back to his meddling, but under the table, he hooked his ankle around Damian’s.

Damian smiled and leaned back in his chair.

All was good.


End file.
